Draft for review. This policy is a plain-language draft and has not yet been reviewed by an attorney. It is not legal advice.
Privacy Policy
Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE PLACEHOLDER] · Last updated: [DATE PLACEHOLDER]
EventsForger ("we," "us") is a small event-planning referral service run by Brian Stendel, a sole proprietor doing business as EventsForger in Fresno County, California. This policy explains what information we collect through this website, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. It is intended to meet the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) and to be clear and honest with California residents.
1. Information we collect
Information you submit in our forms:
- Vendor match and rescue requests: your name, email, phone (optional for matches, required for rescues), event type, date, approximate guest count, budget range, city, the vendor types you need, and any notes you add.
- Vendor applications: business name, contact name, email, phone, category, website or social profile, typical pricing, service area, credentials you check, and notes.
- Contact form: your name, email, topic, and message.
What we do not collect: we do not ask for payment card numbers, Social Security numbers, birth dates, or government IDs through this website. Please don't put sensitive information (health details beyond simple dietary needs, financial account numbers) in free-text fields.
Free planning tools: the checklist generator, budget checker, quote comparison, and RSVP tool run entirely in your web browser. What you type into them is not sent to us. The RSVP tool saves your list in your browser's local storage on your device so it's there when you return. You can delete it at any time with the tool's "Clear all" button or by clearing your browser's site data.
Automatically collected information: we do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics on this site. Like all websites, our hosting provider and the services listed in section 4 may automatically receive technical data such as your IP address, browser type, and the pages requested, as part of delivering the site and processing form submissions.
2. How we use information
- To respond to your request and email you a shortlist of local vendors.
- For rescue requests, to contact backup vendors about availability for your date.
- To review vendor applications and manage our vendor network.
- To follow up after your event to ask which vendor you booked and how it went (this helps us keep our vendor list reliable and track referral fees).
- To answer questions you send us, and to keep basic business and tax records.
We may use an AI writing assistant to help draft replies or shortlists. When we do, we limit what we share to what's needed for the task, and a person reviews messages before they're sent.
3. How we share information
- With vendors you ask to be matched with: when you request a shortlist or rescue and check the consent box, we share your event details (event type, date, guest count, budget range, city, needs, and notes) and your contact information with the vendors we match you with, so they can respond to you. Vendors agree to use it only to serve your request.
- Referral fees: vendors in our network pay us a flat referral fee when a client we referred books them. This fee is for the booking, not for your information, and vendors agree not to mark up your price because of it.
- Service providers who help us run the site and communicate with you (see section 4). They process information for us and are not allowed to use it for their own marketing.
- Legal reasons: if required by law, or to protect the rights or safety of you, us, or others.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct-marketing purposes (California Civil Code ยง1798.83).
4. Service providers we use
- Website hosting: [HOST PLACEHOLDER: e.g., Netlify]
- Form processing: FormSubmit (formsubmit.co), which receives form submissions and forwards them to our email. [Update if we switch to Formspree or Netlify Forms]
- Email: Google (Gmail). [Update when moving to an @eventsforger.com address]
- Fonts: this site loads fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser contacts Google's servers and Google may receive your IP address. (We may switch to self-hosted fonts in the future.)
5. How long we keep information
We keep requests, vendor applications, and messages for up to 2 years after our last contact with you, unless we need them longer for tax or legal records (for example, referral-fee records). Then we delete them.
6. Your choices and rights
- Access, correct, or delete: email us and we'll tell you what we have, fix it, or delete it (unless we must keep a record for legal or tax reasons). We'll respond within 30 days.
- Stop follow-ups: reply "stop" to any follow-up email, or email us.
- Vendors: you can ask us to remove your listing at any time.
- Larger businesses are subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We don't currently meet its thresholds, but we aim to honor similar requests anyway.
7. Do Not Track
Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal. Because we don't track visitors across websites or use behavioral advertising, our site works the same whether or not the signal is on. We also honor Global Privacy Control signals as a request not to sell or share personal information (we don't sell or share it anyway).
8. Children
This site is meant for adults planning events. It isn't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you think a child has sent us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
9. Security
The site is served over HTTPS. We use accounts protected by strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and we limit access to the information we collect. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, so please don't send sensitive information through our forms.
10. Links to other sites
Our shortlists and pages may link to vendor websites. Their privacy practices are their own; please review their policies.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll post the new version here and update the "Last updated" date. If changes are significant, we'll note them on the home page.
12. Contact us
EventsForger · Brian Stendel, Fresno County, California
Email: admin@eventsforger.com
Website: eventsforger.com
Mailing address: [MAILING ADDRESS PLACEHOLDER: e.g., P.O. Box]